6 years, God only knows where I might have been….

6 years ago YHC rang the bell for the first time with a handful of rag tag HIM’s. There were 3 workouts, total, in The Fort. A lot has changed!  YHC was blessed enough to be able to come to Block Party and Q on a day that has changed my life.  32 other PAX joined YHC in the gloom for some fun for Day 20 for Ass Kickn’ April Y2!

The Thang:

Long loop around WEP

COP

SSH X 50, Squats X 25, IW X 20, Mountain Climbers X 25, Plank Jacks X 25, Slow Sumo Squats X 25, 6 count Burpees w/ hand clap X 10, SSH X 10 – Mosey to playground

DORA 1-2-3

Partner up, 100 Merkins, 200 Squats, 300 LBCs. Go.

Huddle Up

Got the PAX together to briefly talk about what F3 has done for me.  I had initially thought that F3 would always be a physical challenge, and it is, but I would never have guessed how much the 2nd and 3rd F’s would come into play.  Having 32 other men show up at 0515 to work out under my lead, shows exactly what F3 is all about.  Supporting your F3 brother celebrate a special, life changing day by doing burpees and dodging fire ants.  The 1st F is the magnet, always pulling you in.  The 2nd F is the glue, keeping you connected and active.  The 3rd F is the dynamite, serving others, putting yourself 3rd and sharing this crazy thing F3 to all men around you. Off to the hill for Jacob’s Ladder.

Jacob’s Ladder – 8’s – 1 Burpee at top and 7 Bomb Jacks at Bottom. Add, subtract, flippy flop, you know the drill.

Off to COT, but lets do some more while we count down to 0600.  30 seconds of Mountain Climbers, Plank, burpees….. Saved by the Bell. Done.

Great Tuesday morning.  So humbled and blessed with the HUGE turnout this morning.  I couldn’t be more excited about being a part of F3!

FunHouse

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US Army Staff Sgt / NYPD Police Officer James McNaughton

We had 23 PAX show up for my VQ this morning….the support was much appreciated.

The morning started with a quick jog around the NAFO parking lot and ended with a standard warm-up of  Imperial Walkers, Morrocan Nighclubs  and Hillbilly Walkers.

Today we Honored a Fallen Soldier and NYPD Police Officer and our workout consisted of :

10 Burpees and a 100 yard run

27 Merkins and a 100 yard run

10 Donkey Kicks and a 100 yard run

27 Big Boy situps and you guessed it a 100 yard run

10 Lunges and a 100 yard run

27 Squats and who would have thought another 100 yard run

We Rinsed and Repeated ….. Some rinsed and repeated more than others.

Thanks to Dirty Harry and Punchlist for pushing me to lead this great group of men and getting my VQ under my belt.

Shield

 

 

 

 

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Mental Health Awareness at the Pantheon

Mosey around the side of the school.

quick word about what mental health means to you

Warm up
15 – Windmills
15 – Imperial Walkers
20 – Moroccan Nightclubs
10 cherry pickers

5 burpees OYO

30 count people’s chair  with arm flutters
Balls to the wall 10 count

30 count people’s chair with
Balls to the wall 10 count
30 count people’s chair
Balls to the wall 10 count

5 burpees OYO

Mosey to the back of the School

discuss that there is more to mental health than depression

20 Merkins
20 CDD
20 Hand Release Merkins

5 burpees OYO

Lunge walk half way down flip to LT. Dan’s

5 burpees

mosey to the side of the school

Plank
Plank shoulder taps
Seal Team Sit-ups

20 American Hammers

Mosey to the front of the School

Global warming with 30 Monkey Humpers each Pax one at a time while Every one held al-gore, imagine 25 pax  = sore legs

Maximus Shared his struggles  and YHC spoke about my struggles in the past due.

It was awesome to hear so many Pax open up and being vulnerable. T-Claps to all that attended this is not a easy subject to discuss.

Prayers sent up for those that are struggling and have struggled with this topic.

 

 

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Colosseum 4/9/18

Perfect Gloom morning for a great beatdown at The Colosseum.  Rock Hill region looks to be partnering with The Fort this month by crossing the river.  Welcome back Reborn and Walker.

Disclaimer disclaimed and off we went.

Couple of laps around the car line with shuffles, kareoke and power skips (you’re welcome WWL) before settling in to COP.  SSH, low slow squats, Moroccan Night clubs and some plank.

Bottom of the hill we had 11’s with Merkins at bottom and squats at top.  Backward run up hill.  Walker, the 57 year old phenom with guns of steel, probably buns too was out front and getting pushed hard from Funhouse.  AYE!

Quick word on Mammon- A man’s work is essential.  It allows him to be a contributing member of society(not a burden) and provide for his family.  However, in our relationship proximity, it is our least important.  Be mindfull when work creeps toward your bullseye supplanting, whetsone, shieldlock, shorties and M relationships.  Work is what you do, not who you are.

Anchorman took over for YHC and lead the PAX through some bench work, wall sits burpees and some Mary.  AYE, Anchorman- T-Claps.

Great to see fresh faces that follow AKA calendar.  Admiral was on fire today- well done!

AYE!

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Mile High at The Fort

First off- Cobains to Bonsai for this trady BB.  The beatdown was on point.

A hearty crew began strolling in around 6:20 with headlamps both running and car with much excitement and anticipation.  Plenty of jokes going around as I brought my 2.0 that now towers over me by about 5 inches.  Par for the course.  Dont know if this was Milehigh’s first Q at the Fort but he easily stepped up to the plate.  There were a handful of pre rucks and pre runs from PAX accelerating their #King.  Fishsticks ran all the way from Tom Brady’s back yard which was about 7 miles.

Milehigh took the reigns first and led the PAX on a mosey run around the park and then off campus for a circle of pain with standard issue but equally difficult warm ups.  DORA was the name of his game and MH extended to 4 rounds of 100 merkins, 200 Carolina Dry Docks, 300 Squats, 400 LBC aggregate between your partner.  P1 runs up the grassy cliff, bangs out 5 more merkins and tries not to be a rolling wheel of cheese on the way down.  Festifun (from Rock Hill) came in guns blazing and was big on the #pickupthesix encouragement that #teamHYDE had fallen to #DFL.

Handoff to YHC and with no words really planned have been struck and moved by the acceleration of Mile High in fitness, fellowship and his faith.  7 months in and he’s running the yeti, leading workouts, understanding accountability and seeing the virtues of shield lock.  AYE!

AYG up the hill for a partner series of wheelbarrow, carries then toe lunges and burpee broadjumps #crowdpleaser.

Finished out with 2 teams of tunnel of love and finally seal team situps.  Indian run back to home.

  • Geronimo is F3.  King is locked in, always welcoming and a magnet for anybody
  • No one knows exactly why DOAH wore his reflector vest during the workout.  but he stayed safe, so goal attained.
  • Kernel(14 yo 2.0) took it on the chin well and kept up with his old man despite YHC being able to fit in his pocket
  • Lutifisk is looking lean and mean- aye brother keep up the King/Queen
  • When did we start naming ppl after the bad roads in Fort Mill- Pothole and Asphalt?
  • Tesh kept his shirt on but he was conflicted
  • Finally- those who played in the grass the second half, truly get the original Fort. Skin fungi be damned.

AYE!

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Splash

When I was driving to The Swamp and saw the rain coming in sideways, I thought “well it may just be Cha-Ching and me at the AO today.” I was surprised to see 18 Pax in attendance. The rain did not scare them away. To ensure they weren’t scared, we started the workout with Box Cutters in the largest puddle. Jedi loved it (kidding). That was the soggiest workout in my seven years with F3. However, it sure was fun. Would I do it all again? YES!

Mosey to the Cold Stone’s parking lot.

COP: SSH (20x), IW (20x), WM (15x), Sumo Squats (15x), MC (20x) and Box Cutters (15x)

Mosey to Bath & Body Works parking lot.

Circle up, count by 4, each group goes to a corner

Pyramid Drill: At each station/corner, do Burpees, LBCs, Jumping Squats in increments of 5 until we hit 15 repetitions then countdown to 5 as a group. Jog to each station.

Mosey to the Penn Station Subs’ parking lot.

Partner up. Partner Wheel Barrels to each side of the parking lot (2x), Partner Carries (2x), Partner Big Boy Sit Ups (15x for 2 rounds), Partner Ski Jumps (15x), Partners Push Ups (15x for 2 rounds), Partner Leg Lifts (15x for 2 rounds)     

Mosey to the parking lot behind Just Fresh

COP: LBCs (20x), Superman (10 second counts), Pepper Grinders (15x), Merkins (40x)

Moleskin

Wisdom starts with a respect for God. Read the B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth) for insight regarding what you ought to do. Don’t seek counsel from people who only tell you what you want to hear. Our wants and desires often lean toward our sinful nature.

The best counsel comes from wise men who tell you what you ought to hear. They challenge you to do and be better. You’ll want to ignore their advice that may inconvenience to your selfish motives. However, instead of dismissing what you don’t want to hear, lean in.

Also, be that man who helps others understand what they ought to do from a righteous and moral perspective.

#Wisdom #ISI #OughtTo

Peace,

Deacon

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No Pity on the Fools at Quagmire

Jedi here, stepping in for Mr. T to get his backblast from April 1 posted…

Vinny was the scheduled Q, and even mentioned this to Mr. T Sunday morning. Much to Mr. T’s surprise, Vinny called him up late Sunday night requesting a substi-Q. This late change of plans caused for some confusion in the wee hours of Monday morning, but at 0515 Mr. T took control, gave a disclaimer (with some assistance), and off we went.

Mosey around to Sport Clips parking lot with some high knees, butt kickers, and shuffles along the way. That was the warm up. For the rest of the workout, Mr. T rolled out the dice, of which there were four. Simple rules: roll the dice, he’d announce and lead the exercise to some pre-determined number that may or may not be a multiple of 10, rinse and repeat.

Exercises:

4 – low slow squats

5 – mountain climber

6 – Freddie mercury

7 – LBC

8 – You Call It

9 – Rosalita

10 – American Hammer

11 – Peters on the wall (Peter Parkers in BTTW position, not the other possible definition)

12 – People’s Chair

13 – You Call It

14 – Crab walk/bear walk the circle

15 – Run (to a new location; we did this a few times, ending up in front of Home Depot, outside Just Fresh, in front of Tuesday Morning, and outside Casual Pint)

16 – High Knee Skip

17 – Plank hip dips (on your elbows)

18 – Side plank, arm (and leg) high, both sides

19 – You Call It

20 – Plank hands to elbows

21 – Peter Parker/Parker Peter

22 – Hello Dolly

23 – You Call It

24 – Burpees

With four dice, you can assume most of our rolls ended up in the middle numbers.

Return to COT for number-o-rama, name-o-rama, announcements-o-rama (not actually a thing), and praises and prayers.

Welcome (no longer an) FNG, The Admiral.

Mr. T would like to thank Vinny for the opportunity. It’s difficult to tell if there was sarcasm in his text saying as much.

I would like to thank Mr. T for stepping up. I know it’s been hard for him to get out and post consistently lately, but it’s always good to see him. It’s probably especially difficult to come back and Q after not Qing for a long time. I think it was safe to say he was a bit nervous, but he still took control and led the PAX through a solid beatdown for a Monday morning. It was also great to see the PAX gather together and encourage him throughout the workout.

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Fire Ant 4/2/19

I have been running too much… but now it’s time to get ready for May’s GoRuck Heavy.  No better way that to lead the men at our rucking AO the Fire Ant. Cool morning in April, they are expecting SNOW today (and it came). But for 5:15am we were good to go.

12 other  men rucked up and many brought extra sandbags so we put them to good use.  After the normal disclaimer, and Admiral’s 2nd post (1st ruck) we lined up 2×2.  Man to the left had a sandbag, man right would be his partner.  We took a nice stroll around the drop off loop, switched sandbag half way through.

COP rucks off

SSHs – Windmill – Daisy Pickers – IWs – Merkins – Mountain Climbers

To Tiered Hill

Bear Crawl to each Tier –  do exercise – then crawl bear down from top stopping to do exercise again at each tier

10 Merkins

10 Squats

10 Lunges

Mosey with bags 2×2 to back of school parking lot

Switch bags every 2 minutes

COP with Ruck off

  1. Curls      2. Overhead Press     3. Swings     4. Tricep Extensions

5. Man Makers      6. Flutters w Press           7. Bent over Rows

Mosey to the front of the school again carrying sandbags 2×2.  Switched partners once

Finished with Ab Lab: America Hammers and Big Boy situps.

COT

Announcements – 2nd F Lunch today, several ruck events coming up this week to get your miles and muscles in!

Prayers

For healing, surgery, getting along with family.

Thanks for the opportunity to Lead!

~Royale

 

 

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Bell In The Ring

On Friday, I had the opportunity to Q The Hive, a Kettle Bell workout that has developed the history of being a great, body-challenging, way to end your work week. Under no circumstances was I going to let that change on my watch. After all, Frat Boy was promising an FNG (welcome Mich Ultra) that he’s been working on for 2yrs. What does this tell you about Frat Boy? Leave it to say, Dog On A Bone.

Once we all circled up in the beginning and dropped our metal bells, the PAX were disclaimed. They were then reminded of the critical mission of F3 and if you’re a little hazy: Plant, Grow and Service small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership. None of those words are there by accident.

And then, we’re off for a mosey to the other large parking lot then back (sans bells) for a little warming up all in counts of 16:

SSH

Mountain Climbers

Peter Parkers

Parker Peters

SSH

Moroccan Night Clubs

American Hamers

Merkins

Grab your bells (notice the “e”) and report back to our circle. Only now, much larger; roughly 40yds in diameter. I would call out an exercise, we’d do a count of 16 of said exercise, set the bell down, run to the center of the circle, perform 5 burpees, then return to your bell. The running back and forth eventually turned to a jog. Here’s the menu:

Kettle Bell Swings

Left Arm Bicep Curls

Right Arm Bicep Curls

Overhead Lunges (Lunges with KB held overhead – 8ea leg)

Upright Rows

Bent Over Rows – Right Side

Bent Over Rows – Left Side

Tricep Extensions

Overhead Squats (Squats with KB held overhead)

Flutters w/  Press

Big Boy Sit-Ups

Stretch it out with some KB-free SSH’s

Thrusters (with the KB)

Now it was time for a little more cardio training. Lining up on the side of the large parking lot, we did a set of 5-Tier suicides followed by a set of 2-Tier suicides.

Line up for Seal-Team Sit-ups

LBC’s

Hello Dolley’s

Rosalitas

A reminder of the F3 Credo: Never leave a man behind but leave no man where you found him.

A reminder of F3’s 5 core principles: Free of Charge, Open to ALL MEN, Held outdoors-rain or shine, Peer-Led (no professional training), Ends with a C.O.T.

Several announcements which included upcoming events, headlined by the OST 8K for our man, Olive in LKN which by the time you read this, will have already happened. Get involved, Stay involved, and LEAD.

Read YOUR Newsletter.

Until Next Time…It has been my honor to serve

Maximus.

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Simulation Training for May Event

Seeing that many of the past Q’s at the Fire Ant have been ratcheting up the physical training, it was time for some simulation training since there are a few new newbies. 19 PAX chose to post this morning.

YHC acted as the cadre and asked for 1 rookie and seasoned PAX. Instructions were given – 5 minutes to get the PAX in formation, ruck up, sandbag ups, and move to the bus drop off. Off they went.  They were 30 seconds late, but Q decided not to penalize.

Next , 2 rookies were assigned team leader and assistant team lead. They were given – 10 minutes to get to big tree with 100 merkins and 100 LBCs. Off they went. As they headed towards the big tree, the TL/ATL stopped and had all PAX do 25 merkins and LBCs. The PAX stopped 2 more times, and then at the big tree finished the 4th set. They went 3 minutes over. I informed the PAX that it is critical to listen to detail. I didnt say all PAX had to do 100 of each, I said you had 10 minutes to get to tree with 100 of each. The PAX could have broken these out to each PAX.

Next, 2 new rookies were assigned TL and ATL. They were given 3 minutes to get to the basketball courts. They made this time – well 15 seconds late…. Each PAX had to do 20 manmakers due to previous penalty.

Lastly, 2 new rookies were assigned. They were given 5 minutes to get to flag poll with each PAX doing 100 flutters. The TL and ATL listened well since they informed PAX the full directions.

The key is to listen to the details by the Cadre in order to not get additional penalties.

Announcement and prayers conducted

 

 

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